Pakistan refutes Indian reports on ‘radioactive material’

FO says Shanghai-bound vessel from Karachi port contained ‘empty’ containers

Pakistan on Saturday rubbished Indian media reports claiming the “seizure of possible radioactive material” by port authorities in the neighbouring country.

“We have noted the reports in the Indian media about the seizure of possible radioactive material by Indian port authorities at the Mundra Port on containers loaded on a Shanghai-bound commercial vessel from Karachi Port,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in a statement.

“The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant authorities had said that these were ‘empty containers’ being returned to China. They were earlier used for the transportation of fuel from China to Karachi for K-2 and K-3 Nuclear Power Plants,” he added.

“Both the K-2 and K-3 Nuclear Power Plants and the fuel used in them are under the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguards. The containers were empty and the cargo was correctly declared as non-hazardous in the shipping documents.”

Also read: Two arrested in India with radioactive substances worth over $570 million

The spokesperson said the reporting by the Indian media about the ‘seizure of possible radioactive material’ was factually incorrect and baseless.

“It was a usual ploy to malign Pakistan and mislead the international community.”

He said the “fake” reporting by the Indian media was indicative of a mala fide intent to twist procedural customs issues to bring into disrepute an IAEA safeguarded nuclear power programme.

According to the Indian media reports, a joint team of the Indian Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday seized eight containers from a foreign vessel that had docked at the Mundra Port over concerns that they contained undeclared hazardous cargo -- potentially radioactive substances.

“While the cargo was listed as non-hazardous, the seized containers had Hazard Class 7 markings (which indicate radioactive substances),” read a statement from Adani Port and Logistics.

The logistics company further said the containers “were not destined for Mundra Port or any other port in India” and “were en route from Karachi in Pakistan to Shanghai in China”.

“The Indian authorities had them offloaded at Mundra Port for further inspection”, the statement added.

“The Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone [APSEZ] extended all assistance possible for this operation and thanks the Customs and DRI personnel for their quick and coordinated action. We salute their alert diligence and will continue to fully assist any action that keeps India safe. The Adani Group takes national security very seriously and will not allow it to be compromised in any way.”